Russia's military action in Ukraine a 'timely and necessary response' to West: Vladimir Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed a parade in Moscow to celebrate his country's 1945 victory over Nazi Germany.

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday said that Moscow's military action in Ukraine is "a timely and necessary response'' to the Western policies. President Putin also likened his country's action in Ukraine to the Soviet fighting in World War II, according to international media reports. 

Putin also vowed that "as in 1945, the victory will be ours" as he congratulated former Soviet nations on the 77th anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II.

"Today, our soldiers, as their ancestors, are fighting side by side to liberate their native land from the Nazi filth with the confidence that, as in 1945, victory will be ours," said Putin, who ordered his troops into Ukraine in February.

"Today, it is our common duty to prevent the rebirth of Nazism which caused so much suffering to the peoples of different countries," said Putin adding that, ''new generations may be worthy of the memory of their fathers and grandfathers".

Putin also made multiple references not just to soldiers but also to civilians on the "home front... who smashed Nazism at the cost of countless sacrifices". President Vladimir Putin made these remarks as he presided over a parade of troops, tanks, rockets and intercontinental ballistic missiles on Moscow`s Red Square, and made a speech to celebrate Russia's 1945 victory over Nazi Germany.

The Russian forces pushed forward on Monday in their assault on Ukraine, seeking to capture the crucial southern port city of Mariupol as Moscow celebrated its Victory Day holiday.

Determined to show success in a war now in its 11th week, Russian troops were pummeling a seaside steel mill where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters were making what appeared to be their last stand to save Mariupol from falling.

The mill is the only part of the city not overtaken by the invaders. Its defeat would deprive Ukraine of a vital port and allow Russia to establish a land corridor to the Crimean Peninsula, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014.

Ukraine will win the war with Russia: Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, commemorating victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, said on Monday his country would win its war with Russia and would not cede any territory.

"On the Day of Victory over Nazism, we are fighting for a new victory. The road to it is difficult, but we have no doubt that we will win," he said in a written address.

Zelenskyy said Ukrainians were a free people who had fought to defend their land many times in history and had their "own path". "Today we are waging war on this path and we will not give anyone a single piece of our land ... and we will not give anyone a single piece of our history," he said.

"We are proud of our ancestors who, together with other nations in the anti-Hitler coalition, defeated Nazism. And we will not allow anyone to annex this victory, we will not allow it to be appropriated."

He added, "There are no shackles that can bind our free spirit. There is no occupier who can take root in our free land. There is no invader who can rule over our free people. Sooner or later we win."

(With Reuters Inputs)